Eighth committee head’s command of facts questioned

Pro-life organisations have scorned claims by the chair of the Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment that the committee could not find a single medical expert to make the case for retaining Ireland’s constitutional protections for the unborn.

Speaking on RTÉ radio, Senator Catherine Noone said: “Nobody was willing to come forward, none who were experts in this country. There was no single GP who offered, or any way indicated, that they wanted the status quo to remain.”

Witnesses

Cora Sherlock of the Pro Life Campaign (PLC), however, said that because 28 pro-repeal witnesses were invited to present before the Committee, whereas just five pro-life speakers were invited in total, “it is totally understandable that some of the invited pro-life speakers chose not to attend in order to draw attention to the entirely biased proceedings”.

Pointing out that a simple online search would have alerted Senator Noone to medical experts who would have been willing to address the committee, Savethe8th said that the senator’s claim “raises serious questions about her command of the facts in this debate”.